Welcome to My Colonies

Thursday, December 02, 2010

Qatar??? Really?!?

The sports world received a huge shock today when FIFA announced their selection for the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. England was bidding for the 2018 World Cup. London is hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a separate organization from the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). They make their selections separately, even if they seem to coincide (1994 World Cup in the USA, 1996 Olympics in Atlanta; 2014 World Cup in Brazil, 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro).

In a surprising move, FIFA decided to announce the selections for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups at the same time. To the dismay of English soccer hooligans, Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup. Naturally, charges of bribery from the Russian mafia have cropped up online. That decision, however is not a bad one. Russia has been wanting to host another Summer Olympics for a long time now, and had to "settle" for hosting a Winter Olympics at Sochi in 2014. By hosting the multi-game World Cup, Russia will be able to showcase cities besides Moscow and St. Petersburg.

However, the truly shocking announcement occurred when Qatar was announced the host for 2022. The United States really wanted this one, going so far as to enlist former President Bill Clinton (who was seen at several World Cup games in South Africa this summer, having a great time and hanging out with members of Team USA) as a special ambassador and advocate for why we deserved a second World Cup. I probably ticked off some friends of mine on Facebook when I argued why we probably would not (and should not) get it. Many other countries have not had the opportunity and we had one not too long ago. For the 1994 World Cup, we had a strong advocate in Brazilian soccer star Pele who dreamed of seeing the World Cup come to the United States. The hope was that a U.S. hosting duty of the World Cup would finally bring soccer into the major leagues as far as fans are concerned. Instead, it remains a "niche sport" which attracts American viewers approximately every four years during the World Cup.

Also in the running for 2022 were: Australia, South Korea, and Japan. I would have loved it if Australia had won the right. That would have been my choice. It would be 22 years between the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the country is large enough to feature games in every one of its major cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, and Cairns).

Instead, FIFA had other plans. They decided to go for unprecedented. This will be the first major international sporting event in an Arab country. But one has to wonder: Why Qatar? The United Arab Emirates is a larger country than Qatar (which is slightly smaller than Connecticut). Qatar will be the smallest country to host the World Cup. In fact, you can't even see it on the map of the world I have at the top of my blog. Even more audacious, the population is around a million people and the country will need to build nine soccer stadiums before 2022, which is wasteful, since they are unlikely to use those stadiums after the thirty days of the World Cup. Additionally, the oil-rich nation in the Persian Gulf is far from the rest of the world and the construction projects are built by "guest workers" from other parts of the world. Another factor that was not an obvious consideration for FIFA: the intense 120 degree heat in the summertime. Playing in this kind of heat might actually help African and Arab teams to defeat the powerful European and South American teams.

I've read some articles that this rejection of America as host for yet another international sporting event could be a sign of our pariah status in the aftermath of an internationally hated Bush era. Perhaps. However, as a devoted internationalist, I believe in fairness and we already had our chance in 1994. So many other nations have not hosted an Olympics or a World Cup and want to, so why not be happy for the other nations?

Pictured above is Doha, the biggest city and capital of Qatar. It looks pretty clean and sleek, like Dubai. Doha had also bid on the 2016 Summer Olympics, but they lost out (like Chicago) to the well deserved Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Though I would have liked to see Australia get the 2022 World Cup, I think Qatar will certainly be an interesting host. In fact, I can't wait for that one.

Sansego

A word I created from the French word Sans (meaning "without") and the English word ego. Basically, that sums up my spiritual beliefs. To be closer to God, we must transcend our egos and recognize we are all "one in the spirit."

My 7 Favourite Films of 2007

Gorgeous!

My Hot List (of Dream Women)

1. Audrey Tautou

2. Emily Blunt

3. Frances O'Connor

4. Thandie Newton

5. Natalie Portman

6. Shannyn Sossamon

7. Michelle Yeoh

8. Gwen Stefani

9. Zoe Saldana

10. Halle Berry

Nonconformists of the Year

The following photos represent my selection for Nonconformist of the Year, that I started doing in 1992 to honour the person who did an unexpected act, which went against the grain of conventional thinking.

1992

Bill Clinton

1993

Al Gore

1994

Nelson Mandela

1995

Lady Diana Spencer

1996

John F. Kennedy, Jr.

1997

Louis Freeh

1998

Russ Feingold

1999

Jesse Ventura

2000

John McCain

2001

Bill Maher

2002

Dave Eggers

2003

Howard Dean

2004

Joseph Darby

2005

Cindy Sheehan

2006

Al Gore

2007

Buddhist Monks of Burma

2008

Barack Obama

2009

Alicia Silverstone

2010

Julian Assange

2011

Mohamed Bouazizi

Best descriptions of GWB

1. He's a corporation masquerading as a human being -- Ralph Nader

2. He's a blind man in a room full of deaf people -- Paul O'Neill

3. Poor George...born on third and thought he hit a triple -- Ann Richards

4. You could easily imagine him owning the local car dealership down the road -- Barack Obama

5. Bush is the worst president ever...He is the worst president in American history -- Helen Thomas

Favourite Presidents

1. Thomas Jefferson

2. John Fitzgerald Kennedy

3. Abraham Lincoln

4. George Washington

5. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Worst Presidents Ever

1. George W. Bush

2. Richard M. Nixon

3. Lyndon B. Johnson

4. Ronald W. Reagan

5. Warren G. Harding

Cool words I love

Kundalini

Shosoloza

Zenani

Serendipity

Psychokinesis

Recommended CDs by my favourite Irish musicians

1. All That You Can't Leave Behind -- U2

2. A Day Without Rain -- Enya

3. The Bells of Dublin -- The Chieftains

4. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got -- Sinead O'Connor

5. Herding Cats -- Gaelic Storm

My All Time Favourite Music Videos

1. Nothing Compares 2 U -- Sinead O'Connor

2. Coldhearted -- Paula Abdul

3. Smoke -- Natalie Imbruglia

4. Stay -- Lisa Loeb

5. Soak Up The Sun -- Sheryl Crow

All Time Favourite Films

1. The Sound of Music

2. The Star Wars Saga

3. Dead Poet's Society

4. Casualties of War

5. Love and Other Catastrophes

6. E.T.

7. Forrest Gump

8. Jurassic Park

9. Sarafina!

10. Roxanne

All Time Favourite Albums

1. Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World -- Johnny Clegg and Savuka

2. Earth and Sun and Moon -- Midnight Oil

3. All That You Can't Leave Behind -- U2

4. Le Baiser -- Indochine

5. Wommat (The Guide) -- Youssou N'Dour

6. Born in the USA -- Bruce Springsteen

7. Tracy Chapman -- Tracy Chapman

8. Graceland -- Paul Simon

9. The Rising -- Bruce Springsteen

10. Autoamerican -- Blondie

11. Pilgrim -- Eric Clapton

12. Thriller -- Michael Jackson

13. Crazy Sexy Cool -- TLC

14. True Blue -- Madonna

15. Whitney -- Whitney Houston

All Time Favourite Songs

1. What A Wonderful World -- Louis Armstrong

2. Sailing -- Christopher Cross

3. A Better Man -- Keb' Mo'

4. Woman Be My Country -- Johnny Clegg and Savuka

5. Time After Time -- Cyndi Lauper

6. Woman -- John Lennon

7. Man In the Mirror -- Michael Jackson

8. Hey Jude -- The Beatles

9. Imagine -- John Lennon

10. Stairway to Heaven -- Led Zepplin

My 6 Fave Songs of 2006

1. Do I Make You Proud? -- Taylor Hicks

2. Unwritten -- Natasha Bedingfield

3. Jump -- Madonna

4. Waiting on the World to Change -- John Mayer

5. Bad Day -- Daniel Powter

6. What's Left of Me -- Nick Lachey

My 6 Fave Films of 2006

1. An Inconvenient Truth

2. The Da Vinci Code

3. Blood Diamond

4. V For Vendetta

5. The Devil Wears Prada

6. Casino Royale

Three Worst Films of 2006

1. Borat

2. Basic Instinct 2

3. Children of Men

Favourite Madonna Singles

1. Live to Tell

2. Vogue

3. What it Feels Like For a Girl

4. Jump

5. Who's that Girl

6. Into the Groove

7. Angel

8. This Used to Be My Playground

9. Holiday

10. Die Another Day

Favourite Madonna Albums

1. True Blue (1986)

2. Like a Prayer (1989)

3. Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005)

4. American Life (2003)

5. Bedtime Stories (1994)

6. Madonna (1983)

7. Music (2001)

8. Ray of Light (1998)

9. Like A Virgin (1984)

10. Erotica (1992)

Favourite Madonna Music Videos

1. Vogue

2. Material Girl

3. Into the Groove

4. Papa Don't Preach

5. La Isla Bonita

6. Human Nature

7. Take A Bow

8. Nothing Really Matters

9. Rain

10. Beautiful Stranger

Personal Timeline

Dec 1971 -- Born;1977 -- "Star Wars" craze begins!;1978 -- Wendy is my first crush, setting a pattern of me falling for girls I find more intelligent than myself;1980 -- Sharon Dunn becomes my first penpal when I move to Utah;Dec 1980 -- Baptized into RLDS Church;1984 -- Meet Nicholas Smith in 7th grade, who becomes one of my best friends;1985-1988 -- Lived in Germany;1988 -- Acted in two plays, "Our Town" and "You Can't Take It With You.";Summer 1989 -- Wrote "Diabolic Incognito" for a Young Novelist competition;November 1989 -- Inspired with story idea for next novel;June 1990 -- Graduated high school, then enlisted in the Navy;January 1991 -- First solo trip via Greyhound to visit my best friend in Omaha and my grandparents in Kansas;March 1991 -- Went off to Basic Training;September 1991 -- Arrived in Italy for my 3 year assignment;October 1992 -- My first Eurail trip;April 1993 -- An odd coincidence brings me back to God;August 1994 -- My trip to South Africa becomes my most significant spiritual experience;November 1994 -- Meet my other best friend, Nathan Hagman;January 1996 -- Honorable Discharge from the Navy;May 1996 -- Car is totalled in an accident;August 1997 -- Start my college career at BYU;April-May 1999 -- Road trip to Pacific Northwest makes a huge impression on me that this is where I want to settle someday;January-April 2000 -- Internship with Vice President Gore;December 2004 -- Finished writing second novel "Seasons of Silent War" (still haven't found an agent for it);August 2006 -- Move to Portland, Oregon--finally!!;December 2006 -- Finished my long-delayed Bachelor's Degree in International Politics